Star Trek: Serenade
by Mudcat
Summary: Samus has agreed to help the Voyager find the lost crew members. But now they have a centuries old mystery to solve... What happed to the Seattle?
1. Prologue

Serenade 

A Star Trek Voyager and Metroid crossover

Michael Lapine: author.

Eric Duncanson: spell-checker, beta reader, consultant and lucky hairball.

Disclaimer: Hello! And welcome to my pride and joy, _Serenade_, which is a crossover of my two favorite Sci-fi series (which was outlined above). Of course, you should probably be aware that I am neither Gene Roddenberry nor Gunpei Yokoi, may they rest in peace (claps twice and bows in reverence). I am also not a copyright owner of Star Trek or Metroid, though wouldn't that be nice?

I shouldn't have to say this, but this is a purely fictional work down for entertainment purposes and no profit has been made off it. So you wouldn't get much of anything if you sued me except for a lot of abused books, my only treasured items. In any case, I hope you really enjoy.

……………………………………………

Prologue

Deep within the Delta quadrant, far away from Earth, Starfleet or any recognizable space the old song of humanity was being sung. On board the _Voyager_ it could be heard the clearest and could almost be understood. Though it was a song that most are unaware of, it was subtler than the gentle song of the warp drive. But the warp drive was silent now as it approached what appeared to be a galactic way station or a security checkpoint of some sort.

Chacotay was sitting in the notorious 'hot seat' until captain Janeway came into the bridge, and he stood at a very loose 'at-ease' position. She strode right to the seat he just left, a position of greater responsibility than most could possibly know. To say that she made herself comfortable would be inaccurate, but she gave off the aura of being comfortable anyway. "What do we got here?"

"It looks like a military outpost, a heavily fortified one at that. There are life signs on it, probably humanoid." Seven reported, reading from her sensors. At that last bit, Janeway gave her a curious look. Seven noticed the look, and said, "The readings are a little odd, captain. I can tell you that they are heavily armed, however the weaponry is somewhat primitive. It would pose very little threat to us."

"Thank you, Seven. Just whom are we dealing with?"

"I am not certain, but I think we might be dealing with the Jihadre. They are a species that are nearly extinct, but somehow they manage to run a small star empire they call the Galactic Federation. However, Neelix would be able to tell more about them as the Borg database does not contain much information about them."

"Alright, would you mind opening communications, ensign Kim?"

Kim nodded and got to work. Very soon the view screen changed from the space station and put on the face of one of the most distrustful looking creatures he had ever seen. It had a small head, with a thin face dominated by narrow eyes that were a cold green and its nose was a beak like protrusion. The skin was a chalky white, like the creature had not seen sun light in a very long time.

The creature narrowed its eyes even further, "What do you what!"

Its demand physically took captain Janeway aback, but she quickly regained her composure. "I am Katharine Janeway, captain of the _USS Voyager._ We respectfully request permission to go through your territory." However, when she finished the creature did not reply immediately. Indeed he did not give any indication that he understand, Janeway was about to make the request again when he replied.

"Fine, you may pass I will notify my superiors as soon as possible about your presence," the creature said, then he cut the communication before Janeway could form a reply.

Janeway frowned and Tom Paris said, "I respectfully submit that perhaps this time we might want to take the long way around."

"So noted. Get Neelix up in my briefing room and set a course through on the quickest route, mister Paris."

"You're the boss."

The captain got up from her chair and made for the side exit of the bridge, where her briefing room was. It was not a very large room, nor were there a lot of comforts in it but it had great view of the expanse of space. She glanced out of the view port as set down behind her desk. What was this sense of dread? In a few minutes Neelix came into the briefing room, bearing a tray with a steaming pot of coffee and a cup.

"I don't remembering asking for coffee."

"I've been told that we've entered the territory of the Galactic Federation. Trust me, you'll be needing this before the day is done."

"Is it that bad?"

"It is worse than you think, captain." Neelix poured her a cup of coffee and sat down, "This area is controlled primarily by the Jihadre, not a race so much as they are a crime family. They were a member of a much larger race that went extinct when their planet was obliterated by a supernova, however they were spared that fate only by the virtue of not being there when it happened. As irony would have it they are slowly dieing out because of inbreeding."

"And yet they have control of this sector? How did that happen?"

"Through a lot of cut throat business and shady dealings and to be honest with you they run a monopoly on everything. Everything costs, including air, and all money goes into their hands."

"Let me guess, we'll be having them on us soon."

"Got it in one. If you want my advice, get through this sector as quickly as possible if not quicker and try to keep a low profile."

"All this time on board, have you ever known us to keep a low profile?"

"No, just thought it might be worth trying."

"Besides, I think that a low profile won't help us any."

The two just sat there for a moment and Janeway sipped her coffee. It was really good coffee, too, she just wished she could sit here and enjoy it. The communicator chirped, and Janeway replied. "Yes?"

"_You should come out here to the bridge, we found something."_

"Is it bad?"

"_No, its dillithium."_

"I'm coming." Janeway responded, getting up. She sighed it was such good coffee. "I'm going to need you on the bridge for now."

Neelix did not reply, knowing that it was unnecessary. As they got onto the bridge they saw a planet… if one was to stretch their imagination. With its size it could be more accurately described as a moon or maybe a large asteroid, especially with its ovoid shape. It was pockmarked with craters and had canyons where veins of the precious mineral could be seen with the naked eye.

"Seven?"

"It is an asteroid captain, approximately thirty hundred kilometers long. It might have been the part of a larger planetary mass at one time, though I can't ascertain that with out a more detailed study. A large portion of the mass is in fact dilithium, however the asteroid is generating a magnetic distortion that makes it difficult to scan accurately."

"Is it possible to beam aboard a sample?"

"No, to much disturbance. The transporter beam would likely distort and be lost, I recommend a manual insertion of a landing team in full environmental suits."

"Neelix, what repercussions would the Galactic Federation take?"

"None, captain. They're only interested in things they can exploit, and to the best of my knowledge they are completely uninterested in dilithium."

"What do you think Chacotay?"

"It _is_ a interstellar object, and whoever finds it first gets to claim."

Janeway paced, thinking hard about every angle. What Chaqotay said made sense, but Starfleet procedures normally dictated that the people in charge of the local territory, which would in this case be the Galactic Federation. If she read them correctly then they would probably claim the asteroid anyway in order extort the _Voyager_ for certain items that Janeway was notorious for not parting with, such as technological advances. But come to think of it Starfleet procedures were vague about _when _the authorities had to be notified. "Okay then, lets do this by the numbers. Tuvak, assemble a landing team and report down to the shuttle bay on the double," Janeway did not wait for a response and continued to Kim, "Prepare to send a message to the Galactic Federation, mister Kim."

"But ma'am…

"And be sure to send it as soon as we are away from here," Janeway finished, cutting off his protests with a smile. Kim looked confused for a moment before returning the smile and getting back to work. She sipped on her coffee nervously for a few minutes, not merely because it was a good brew, though it was, but because she could not shake the feeling of impending doom.

She did not know what she was so nervous of; this was just a typical landing operation, one like any other she had ordered in the past few years. The landing team had not even left the shuttle bay and they were not properly in danger yet, yet her she was chewing on nails already and breaking regulations by bringing a beverage onto the bridge. Janeway ordered herself to calm down and take a deep breath, and then she felt a little better.

But she was not getting rid of her coffee, regulations be damned.

Down in the shuttle bay, Tuvak was preparing his team of four which of two other security guards, a geologist and a pilot. All except for the pilot they were getting into EVA suits, which would hopefully provide sufficient protection against the elements on the asteroid's surface, including any stray, unaccountable radiation sources. Not that he was expecting the dilithium to radiate, because logically dilithium did not radiate until it was processed and had energy running through it. But there were many sources of radiation in the universe, some of which may be on that asteroid.

And it was like the humans would say, better safe than sorry. He took a moment to double check his seals and then permitted Lieutenant Romero, the geologist, to check them as well. It was what the humans affectionately termed the 'buddy system', a logical by the step process that they had in operation for centuries before ever meeting the vulcans.

After every step was taken to ensure the EVA suits were properly sealed, the three-man security team collected a phase riffle and a basic tricorder each while Romero grabbed a phaser and a geological tricorder. The pilot reported her own readiness over the COM, allowing everyone to board before dusting off and leaving the atmospherically sealed shuttled bay. "Tuvak to _Voyager_, we are in transit to the asteroid."

"We read you, commander. Please be advised that localized disturbance may interfere with communications, so the Captain advises you to make this as timely as possible." 

"Understood, Tuvak out."

And with that he cut off the COM, staring at the asteroid. It was large, possibly enough so to where they could land the _Voyager_ on its surface. The surface itself was unremarkable and looked to be comprised of a mix of iron ferrate and other silicates, though the shuttle's scanners could not be certain because of the interference. They would be more certain once they made their landing…

…The only source of lighting on the asteroid was the shuttle's running lights, illuminating the ground and the canyon walls in a concentrated area but not far enough to be of any use. Otherwise it was pitch black except for the ethereal glow given off by the exposed dilitihum, which was not enough to navigate by. But the pilot did not pay attention to the view port, she was piloting solely by the sensors.

Why she did not let computer handle it Tuvak did not know, though the other humans did not seem to give it a second thought. The woman coasted the shuttle onto the ground, doing a circular approach like a bird lighting onto a perch. "We've touched down," she reported as she disengaged the engine. She engaged the atmospheric shield, isolating the cockpit, then vented passenger compartment. The team stood and filed out, each grabbing a specimen case as they did so.

Once they set foot outside the security began making a sweep of the immediate area with their scanners. It was clear of any detectible life-signs, so they all turned on their work lights and left the landing zone…

End Prologue

A/N: Thank you for reading this far, esteemed reader. I hope you have enjoyed it, but if you have not than please be sure to let me know. Now, some of you may wonder where I am going with this and where in the two storylines I am picking it up. Do not worry about it to much; it will make itself clear over the course of the story. One of my personal pet peeves is that some fan fiction writers sweat the canon to much… speaking of which, what exactly is a canon? Any way, I know some of you might be anxious to see Samus in action, unfortunately she won't be appearing right away; so I'll have her do the disclaimers and the after words from now on. Well, till next time…


	2. The Battle In The Darkness

SERENADE

A Star Trek/Metroid crossover

Author: Michael Lapine

Lazy smuck: Eric Duncanson

Disclaimer

Hello, Samus Aran reporting for duty as ordered! But first let me just say that this is perhaps one of the oddest missions I've ever taken on, to relate the disclaimer and after words in the same story that I star in. I can see Mike-chan's reasoning, however, as I won't be making an appearance till later on, then I'll be to busy kicking space pirate ass.

Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry (as if you didn't know) and Metroid was created by Gunpei Yoki, may they rest in peace. Mike-chan hasn't made a cent off of this most worthy of stories, so please don't sue him… I'm barely getting paid for this as it is. I can't give much of a spoiler here, but I've been authorized to inform you that the asteroid is not a piece of planet Zebes. But there will be more on that latter.

The author sincerely hopes you enjoy this story…

The Battle In The Dark

The team had barely taken their first few steps before being swallowed up by the darkness, their flashlights barely adequate to illuminate the ground they walked on. It made for a very unnerving and dangerous experience, especially with that dead silence of the vacuum. But Tuvok did not dwell on it and instead focused on his tricorder as he scanned the area around the team. It came back the same as before, no detectible life forms aside from himself and the humans, but the others were plainly spooked by their body language.

He even heard one say over the suit's COM, "I don't like this at all, it gives me a bad feeling." Tuvok was saved from responding when the other security guard replied, "You get a bad feeling about everything."

Though it was meant as a reprimand, it lacked any strength and he could distinctly hear the same security guard mumbling a string of Christian prayers. This situation, this place was a ghost story become real, one of a million similar to ones he had heard humans tell of before. Come to think of it he remembered a crewmember of the _Enterprise-D_ telling him of a similar situation, when he had been part of an away team that investigated an asteroid near the romulan neutral zone.

Tuvok did not remember the entire tale, except for a few of the specifics of the geology and that the crewmember spoke of something that described as liquid dilthium and the dangerous way it interacted with whatever touched it. "Lieutenant," Tuvok said, getting Romero's attention, "Could you please give me a report?"

He said this calmly, but he could tell that the others picked up on the underlying tension in his voice. They came to a halt at a rocky formation about a mile from the shuttle, while Romero started an in-depth scan. "Mostly iron, it has been magnetized by an unknown source deep within. That would explain the distortion," he explained, than he went on in detail about the exact makeup of the asteroid, until he came to the dilthium, which made him pause.

"This can't be right."

"Report."

"The dilthium… it appears to be existing in a kind of flux, I've never seen anything like it before, hell I've never even _heard_ of anything like it."

"What would you surmise it to be?"

"My best guess would be a temporal effect of some kind, similar to stasis…" Romero replied, but before he could say anything more one of the security guards gave a shout from ahead. "Come take a look at this!"

Everyone converged on his point where he was staring at something from over a cliff, and the others did not need him to point it out. It was an artificial construct, comprised of three large towers that were joined at the middle by what appeared to a control platform. It was built out of what appeared to be scrap on a tremendous scale, but it was hard to get a good measure of how big it was because it was jutting out of a hole that was blasted in the lowest point of the crater.

It was poorly lit and appeared to be processing an orange ore. Looking at the construct, it was easy to get overwhelmed. "We need to get out of here," the second security guard said. Tuvok nodded in agreement, "Let's go."

"It's to late, we're not alone sir."

"Report."

"I'm getting sensor ghosts moving out there," he replied motioning with his own scanner. Tuvok knew that, logically, sensor ghosts were nothing to worry about. But humans were perhaps the most illogical creatures in existence. Bearing that in mind it was easy to underestimate them and to forget the fact that their illogical state allowed them to perceive things that others might miss.

He looked at his own tricorder and noticed the sensor ghosts now that he knew what he was looking for. They barely registered at all, but they where out there and they were moving. They were moving towards the landing party. "Form a defensive line!" he ordered unnecessarily as the humans got back-to-back with him in what was the oldest formation in humanity's history.

But there was one last thing to do, so he taped his COM badge. "Tuvok to shuttle, come in."

…

Sarah, the pilot, had been observing their progress through communications; though it became harder to do the further away they got what with the magnetic interference. She did not like this place and did not like the fact that the away team had gotten so far away, but it could not be help. She had to chill out, so Sarah ordered the computer to play back her music. Immediately Charley Daniels came on, singing about the time the devil went to Georgia looking for a soul to steal.

She was a native Georgian, but it really was not her style. The only reason that she was listening to it was that her friend, Eric Duncanson, was trying to get her interested in the music. The time crept by for her as she waited, but her dread did not fade. The music stopped suddenly as the COM panel chirped at her. _"Tuvok to shuttle, come in."_

"I'm here commander, is there a problem?"

There was pause, than Tuvok's static filled voice answered, _"We are under attack by an armed force. I repeat we are under attack."_ Was it her imagination, or was the static getting worse? The attackers were probably setting up a jamming field. Having heard the comment about sensor ghosts she checked the shuttle's scanners. There were sensor ghosts here too, though their numbers were few. She relayed the bad news, but the response made no sense so she boasted the gain and said, "Do you want me to make an attack run?"

There was a very pregnant pause and the pained reply came back, _"That's a negative, ensign. Prepare the engines, and prepare to abandon the landing zone."_ The resolution in his voice was firm, and she could understand his logic even if she disagreed with it. Though it took a considerable amount of resolve to do so, Sarah started the engine up and prepared to abandon the away team.

It was unnerving; to know that her crewmates were under attack out on that alien landscape but she could not hear the battle. She heard one of security yell about a stun bomb, and then there was a heavy burst of static along with a squealing and then a silence.

For a moment Sarah hesitated, she could make an attack run against orders but that could wind up killing the team. And if the enemy used a stun bomb to apprehend the team alive than they were likely to stay alive, her duty now was to make sure that a rescue team was put together as soon as possible.

Sarah began lifting off and left the ground behind…

The tricorder was reading more sensor ghosts, but before they could get much closer the pilot responded to Tuvok's hail, _"I'm here commander, is there a problem?"_ All of a sudden there were several large, solid contacts moving very fast. Soon they were in sight, three anti-gravity sleds loaded with a force of creatures that leapt off with shocking grace for creatures of such size and obvious bulk. Twelve creatures disembarked as the sleds sped off and began firing green bolts of energy at the team. The team ducked down and reformed into a staggered defensive line before Tuvok even gave the order and began firing their phasers.

The heavy stun seemed to have little effect on the attackers and they fired back on them, but their shots splashed against the rocks and exploded. "Set phasers to kill," Tuvok commanded the team, than he replied to Sarah, "We are under attack by an armed force, I repeat we are under attack."

The alien soldiers began charging with scythe-like claws extended towards them, but the team stood their ground and dropped several of the front line, forcing those at the rear to trip and expose them selves. Romero cut those down as the security guards pushed back those who were smart enough to go around the pile up.

A couple simply leapt over the others. One landed behind Romero, grabbing him in chokehold. Up close the creature looked like a hideous mutation of a praying mantis, and it wore a breathing apparatus. It motioned toward the others in an obvious demand for surrender. The second landed in front of the two security guards and charged at them. The one charging got a face full for its trouble while Romero escaped from the grasp of the other with the help from Tuvok.

The battle, from beginning to end, hardly lasted a full minute and yet felt like it carried on for an eternity. Romero kicked the creatures face and sounded like he wanted to spit, but he recovered. In the meanwhile a burst of static came over Tuvok's COM, the pilot was trying to contact them. "Boast your signal, ensign. We do not read you."

A moment latter Sarah's voice came back, _"Do you want me to make an attack run?"_

Looking at the sensors he saw that it was already too late, the sensor ghosts were right on top of them. The new attack came swiftly from attackers that seemed to pop in and out of existence. Whatever they were they apparently had an active camouflage, an advantage in a place like this.

"That's a negative, ensign." Tuvok said firmly, "Prepare the engines, and prepare to abandon the landing zone." The team had taken down several of the invisible attackers by widening their beams. The attack lasted for several minutes in silence and the enemy had yet to make any progress. Then another enemy popped in sight and he lobbed something at the feet of the away team. One of the security guards recognized it at the same time as Tuvok did and said, "Stun bomb, everyone down!"

They barely had time to get crouched down before the stun bomb went off with a brilliant flash, then all went dark…

Looking out over the crater from the drilling rig with cruel eyes was a commando of considerable stature, a veteran of hard campaigns and several victories. He was a large creature, even by space pirate standards, bearing scars from battles and failed attempts of assassination. One scar stood out above all others, though it faded long ago. The commando silently rubbed at his face, where he was shoot during the fiasco twenty years ago that nearly claimed his life several times.

As coincidence would have it the scared child that inflicted the injury would eventually grow up to become the Hunter, the single most hated and feared enemy of the space pirates. But soon she would not matter, nor would the rest of her filthy race whom had the audacity to steal victory from the space pirates. Another space pirate came in to make a report, "Sire, we have caught the intruders."

The trooper went silent as the commando turned on him and his blood red armor gleamed in the low lighting, the commando fixed him with a cruel stare. Feeling slightly weak in the knees, the trooper continued, "We have had some heavy casualties, thirty-one dead and four injured seriously."

"Is it the Hunter?"

"It is not, sire."

"Than you speak nonsense, bring them to me."

The trooper gladly left his presence, obviously glad to keep his life. A moment latter the intruders were brought in under heavier guard than what was usual for just four people. He could not see why, the creatures were obviously inferior. Just looking at the bulky environmental suits told him that. He did not recognize the make of the suits or what the muted blue color meant, but something about the insignia over the left breast tickled his memory for some reason though he could not remember where he had seen it. "Take off the helmets, let me see into their faces."

The troopers jumped to it and removed the helmet of the largest one first. Looking into his face made the commando's blood turn cold, and where he had seen that insignia came back to him. The filthy ones had been wearing the same insignia twenty years ago in the raid that had failed spectacularly with the loss of eight ships. The most humiliating thing about that defeat was just one ship was responsible for it, an old pill-shaped ship by the name of _Seattle._

Just remembering it brought his blood to boil again. "And of the ship?" he asked, his voice dangerously icy. The trooper scoffed, "It had retreated, we are victorious."

"Fool!" The commando exploded into a rage, killing the trooper for his stupidity. "Don't you realize what this means? There's more of this filth out there!" But his rage receded quickly as a new plan fell into place. Yes, this could work into their favor; the trap could still be set. But first they had to abandon this facility because before long there would be more humans crawling all over the place.

"You, load up the phazon ore and set the charges. We are leaving this place. The rest of you take the vermin onto the ship, they are going to be our bait." The commando sneered, causing the troopers to gulp though it was not directed at them. They rushed to get their assignments done, the example of the trooper fresh in their minds…

End Chapter

-After Words-

Another chapter done, and the time of my first appearance becomes that much closer. It was a tense one, wasn't it? The author would like to thank you personally for reading this far and for all comments and criticism. He welcomes and appreciates both, as unusual as that sounds. He has made a solemn vow to treat this as if he was writing a professional novel, so he hopes you enjoyed it so far and hopes you continue to enjoy it.

His next chapter might take a little longer as he has yet to work it out completely. But until then I am Samus Aran, signing out. See you next chapter…


	3. Of victories and losses

SERENADE

A Star Trek/Metroid crossover

-Author-

Michael Lapine

-Co-Author-

Eric Duncanson

Disclaimer

Samus Aran, reporting for duty again, relating the disclaimer and such until I get called into action again. I'm sorry to say it won't be for a few chapters. So, stop haggling the Author already, Linkmaster! Ahem Anyway, the author and the co-author do not own Star Trek or Metroid, nor did they create either series.

I still come down with cold-chills just thinking about what they would do if they _had_.

The author and co-author sincerely hope you continue enjoy this most worthy of stories.

Of victories and losses

The frigate was lifting up after only a minor delay; after all they had collected more of the phazon ore than originally planed. And the prisoners had to be sealed safely away in their suits than put in restrictive bindings. They had to clear the moorings and the umbilical as well, but they were still ahead of schedule. This pleased the commando greatly, and so he allowed himself the leisure of strolling to the control room.

The troopers jumped to attention immediately and began reporting the readiness of different systems, not that he was worried. If the ship they came upon twenty years ago was any indication than they would have nothing to fear. "Weapon systems fully armed, all cannons are primed and ready sir!"

"Engines read ready, speeds up to warp five are available!"

"Cloaking device is ready sir!"

"We are clear for departure sir!"

The commando sneered, and his features somehow became sharper in the darkness, "Take us out, and prepare to engage the explosives as soon as we are free of the asteroid, we won't be needing it anymore."

Everyone jumped to it quickly, hoping not to follow the example of failure. The cargo ship came loose from its moorings and umbilicals; it shuddered and rattled as it fought the gravity of the asteroid. The commando's sneer widened even further as came clear until he saw _Voyager_… and then his sneer vanished. In twenty years it never occurred to him that the Starfleet ship they had encountered might have been obsolete. _Voyager_ was considerably larger and looked like the spearhead of god, if such a creature existed.

The only similarities between this ship and the pill-shaped _Seattle_ were the warp-nacelles and even those were radically different. His blood ran cold once more as he saw it on the view screen and he barely had enough breath to summon the courage to speak. "Set the charges off now!" he commanded, then he whirled to the combat officer, "What are you waiting for, engage the cloaking field!"

Regaining his composure, he eyed _Voyager_ evilly. If he could only capture some of that technology… but he knew it would never happen. But still, he would need information on that technology. "I will be interrogating the prisoners, notify me when we get to the hub."

He did not even bother waiting for a response; the commando left the control room just as the asteroid exploded violently. As he expected _Voyager_ was barely affected, but he knew their sensors would be clouded enough to allow them a silent escape. They would track the pirates down sooner or later, of that much he was certain…

Janeway sipped her hot coffee, trying to exude an aura of confidence and calm she did not feel. It had been over an hour since the shuttle left with the away team and still have yet to receive word from them. If the shuttle had only been equipped with subspace communications than the magnetic interference would not matter.

She got up and walked around the bridge to get a system check from each individual, an unnecessary tactic since everyone knew his or her jobs and would notify her if anything went wrong. But it would give her something to do besides simply sitting and worrying about something she had no control over. Captain Janeway started at astronomics where Seven was working on the scanners.

"Any progress?"

"Not much, Captain. The magnetic interference is too strong, which makes scanning difficult. I have refined the scans a little and noticed some small inconsistencies in the scans."

"Care to elaborate?"

"It appears as if the dilthium is in some kind of flux, like it's out of phase with the rest of reality. Its like nothing I've ever seen before," Seven replied, trying to interpret the readings but not having any luck. It was a puzzle all right, since dilithium did not naturally exist in a flux. There were artificial means of introducing dilithim into a flux, of course, some of which were inherently very dangerous if left uncontrolled.

"Captain!" ensign Him exclaimed, trying to get Janeway's attention, "The shuttle is leaving the asteroid and attempting to contact us."

"Put it onscreen."

The screen changed again, this time they were seeing inside the shuttlecraft, with ensign Sarah at the helm. _"Mayday, mayday! Ground team has been attacked and captured by a hostile force. I recommend _Voyager_ goes to red-alert status and prepare to send a rescue team."_

Captain Janeway's mouth became a thin, hard line. Who would do such a thing and for what purpose? And, most importantly, how? She knew that she be able answer some of her questions when the shuttle returned with the sensor logs of the away team.

"Go to battle stations, and have the Marines prepare to be mobilized for an armed insertion!" Captain Janeway demanded. Meanwhile the shuttle had docked with the ship and Ensign Kim reported that the sensor logs were being uploaded. She made a manual check from the command chair and found that the shields were at maximum power, all weapons were ready and the Marines were ready to mobilize. At the moment she confirmed all this, a ship could be seen leaving the asteroid.

The ship was not much larger than _Voyager's_ engineering section and looked like some angular beetle with stubs protruding from the back, which might have housed the propulsion systems, and the hull of the ship was made of a purple metal that made it hard to see against the stars. The ship, as soon as it saw _Voyager_, began to turn away as if to escape and it wavered in and out of sight. It was cloaking and quickly became invisible to the naked eye.

Captain Janeway turned toward Seven, but needed not to say anything because the woman was already running a full sensor sweep. In a moment she had it, "Detecting it on infrared." Seven changed the main viewer over to what the infrared sensors were seeing and the vessel could be seen again. Only this time it was in oranges, reds, and yellows and not just a little white, it was also radiating an orange aura.

"Man," Paris said, whistling through his teeth, "It must be getting hot as hell over there."

"Well, we're about to make it hotter over there. Close the gap and fire a warning shot!"

They moved on in closer slowly as to not provoke them unduly and a phaser shot lanced out hotter than anything on the other ship. It was a near miss but enough of the power was transmitted through subspace in order to toss it end over end. However the ship did not stop and corrected it course before leaping to warp.

"Lay in a pursuit course and engage!"

"Captain, they transmitted signal just before going to warp," Kim said from COMM, "It was directed at the asteroid."

"Sensors are reading a build up of some type of energy coming from the asteroid!"

"Evasive maneuvers mister Paris, get us out of here!" However it was to late, for no sooner than the captain give the than the asteroid exploded like a fiery sun hit the _Voyager_ like an angry giant and tossed them like some kind of toy. Everyone got thrown about as the inertia dampeners, as well as all other systems went out one by one…

Tuvok woke up alone, or so he first thought, for none of the other away team members were immediately present and his captors were nowhere in sight. At first there was some confusion on his part as he tried to remember where he was and how he came to be there at all, but it came back to him quickly. The asteroid, the battle and being captured, all of it, but that did not answer any of his more pressing concerns.

He tried to get lose from his restraints, which looked vaguely like something out of Tom Paris's _Captain Proton_ programs, but his considerable Vulcan strength had not yet recovered. Movement from outside revealed that he was not alone after all. The being that stepped into the dim lighting was like the others, an insect-like a creature. Its entire body was covered in blood red armor and of its face he could nothing for a re-breather apparatus obscured the face. The creature stopped in front of him and regarded him for moment.

"You are not like the others…"

It was a statement of fact, but there was a question in its voice. But Tuvoc let the creature continue. "You look like the Hunters, but you are different, what are you?"

"I am afraid I do not understand what you are referring to, what are Hunters?" Tuvoc responded, though he knew perfectly well.

"The sub-race of vermin we had caught you with! We call them Hunters for lack of a better name after that filth that hunts us and interferes with us. You will tell us what we want to know about them, starting with their weaknesses!"

"What you want is not a simple thing. Humans are… contradictory."

"Are you saying you won't tell us?"

"I am not saying anything."

The creature considered him some more for some time. "Is there something you desire to say?" Tuvoc asked at last, just a little irritated at having the creature's presence. Not that he would admit it. It was his natural impulse to suppress that emotion, and any others as well.

"How well do you think you know these vermin? We space pirates know them a little better than you might believe because we encountered them twenty years ago. We ran across one of their vessels, a decrepit piece of space trash that identified itself as _Seattle_. It did not look like a vessel worthy of taking but they were in orbit of the planet Zebes, the home of our eternal enemies. We came at them with superior numbers and managed to get a foothold on the space ship and killed a large contingent of the crew in the first few minutes. The ship was ours, and so was the victory!

"As we savored our victory the unforgivable happened! They stole our victory and delivered onto us defeat! They had activated the self-destruct mechanism and destroyed several of our own vessels in the process."

Tuvok nodded silently, knowing that it was standing procedure to destroy a spaceship as an extreme last measure. Acceptable uses of the self-destruct package were few and well laid out in Starfleet regulations, which was understandable.

"Were there any survivors?"

"There were… prisoners. Not that they gave us anything useful, we had better luck getting information from their computer banks, which we had managed to download. That saved my neck since I was the one that lead that ill-fated raid. And now we face one of their ships again on the dawn a victory long in the making. Tell me; explain how it is that they had developed so quickly? The _Seattle_ was just this side of being space debris before we even set eyes on it, and your ship is not."

"Because the ship you are talking about was lost with all hands nearly two-hundred years ago…"

……

Emergency power had been recovered not long after the enemies had blown up the asteroid. But that had been hours ago and they _still_ did not have propulsions or sensors online. Engineering, which had been giving them half-hourly updates, said that the explosion had the characteristics of a sub-space explosion. They were quite lucky to be alive and _mostly_ in one piece, it came as no surprise that they had lost power over much of the ship.

But that still left the problem of just _whom_ they were dealing with, which is why Captin Janeway had left the bridge to get information from Neelix.

"To be honest I'm not really sure who they are. I _think_ that they might be space pirates, but I can't be sure because I've heard recently that they were all wiped out. That could've been misinformation, of course. When I had been through here last I had heard that the space pirate problem had been taken care of, not that that had stopped them from attacking my ship. I tried to repel the boarders but were it not for the bounty hunter that had responded to my distress call I like to think that I would be dead.

"Through more reliable channels I have heard that she is still in the business, despite the rather large bounty on her own head."

"And how did she come to have this bounty on her head?" Janeway asked, wondering if she should be worried.

Neelix did not seem to believe it worth worrying over and said, "There was the BSL incident in which she destroyed a government facility and vaporized SR388, then there was the incident on Jerel where she destroyed another government facility. I have it on good authority that she was justified in her actions though. On BSL there was an outbreak of a virus and on Jerel a population of Metroids they had breed and engineered had escaped from captivity."

"Sounds like the government isn't entirely on the up-and-up."

"I'm sorry, up-and-up?"

"Don't worry about it, Neelix. Now, if you contacted this bounty hunter do you think that she'd agree to help us out?"

"She should, seeing how I've never heard her turn down a reasonable request. Though I think I should take a shuttle and find her, she might be a little nervous at meeting a vessel this size."

"You can take a shuttle, and take Tom with you just in case you need some… creative maneuvering."

Neelix nodded as he got up, he headed towards the door. "Oh, Neelix." He turned back toward the captain, "I don't care what you have to offer her, just get her to come." The man nodded once more and left the briefing room as Janeway took another sip from her coffee, it really was quite good. She just hoped that she would not wind up regretting this decision.

Tom looked up as Neelix exited the briefing room and called his name. "The captain would like for you to take me on a shuttle to collect an expert on this foe. We shouldn't be gone for long."

"Okay, I'll meet up with you over in the shuttle bay." Tom Paris left for the turbolift, presumably to go tell Lieutenant Torras that he would be leaving the ship. While Neelix did not understand why he did not simply use the COMM, it did not really bother him since it would give him time to prepare for the excursion.

He left for the turbolift and several minutes later he was in officer's lodge, where he spent most of his time. Neelix collected some food for the trip because he personally did not like the replicators, they could not be healthy. He also packed some chocolate cake, just in case the bounty hunter still had a weakness for sweets. Then he took the food and returned to the turbolift and rode it to the shuttle bay where Tom was waiting for him.

"Hey, you brought some chocolate cake," Tom said, reaching for it. Neelix pulled away from his reach and admonished him, "This is for the bounty hunter, and I've brought something along for you as well so wait patiently."

"That reminds me, just what is the name of the bounty hunter?"

"Her name is Samus Aran…"

It was not until the commando began walking along and he began following that he realized that some individually powered gravitational stretcher was holding him down, though it seemed to be of a primitive design. He tried to move again, but found himself unequal to the task. Looking to the left and to the right he could see the other members of the away team on the edge of his perceptive vision.

"Two-hundred years; that would explain it quite nicely. Not quite so nice for you or your companions or rest of their filthy race. That only leaves a more bitter taste in our mouth over that defeat from twenty years ago."

"What do you mean?"

"We are going to wipe them out for daring to steal victory from us, down to the last man, woman and child. Then we will crow out our victory to the entire galaxy and continue the campaign to conquer everything in existence."

"I have admit to feeling a little surprise and more than a little disbelief at your statement, may I inquire on just how you plan to carry that statement out?"

"We are going take control of the only wormhole weapon known to exist. We are going to capture Serenade…"

End Chapter


	4. The Hunter

joai-Serenade-

A Star Trek/Metroid crossover

Author: Michael Lapine

Co-author: Eric Duncanson

My name is Michael Lapine and I am not fortunate enough to have personally known the creators of either Star Trek or Metroid. I am not associated with Paramount Studios or Nintendo International, or anyone else that might have owner-ship rights to either series. This story is a work of fiction done for entertainment purposes only, and I have not made a profit off it so please do not sue me.

Those of you who have been following this story so far welcome back honored readers and for those of you honored readers just joining in welcome, welcome! Now, you may be interested to know that Samus Aran might appear in this chapter. I am not really sure because I do not make it a habit of really planning the chapters out. But any way it goes I hope you enjoy the story.

The Hunter

Captain Janeway paced the length of her ready room for the fifth time in the half-hour since she completed reading the report from the away team, which created more mysteries than it really solved. The scanner logs that were retrieved indicated that the dilithium was not dilithium at all but a substance that registered nearly the same on the scanners. Whatever the substance really was it a mysterious thing that appeared to be in a flux out of sync with reality, as if it was in a sort of suspended animation.

The how's and why's of this mystery substance were unimportant. It was conceivable that the space pirates were after it for some hidden agenda, which had to mean that they had been after it for quite some time. Especially with all the excavation equipment that they had on the asteroid before it was blown up. But why capture the away team; it did not make any sense.

The door chirped, and she was grateful for it, she was driving herself crazy looking for meaningful answers. "Come." The captain said, sitting down. In came a security guard, Lieutenant-commander Duncanson if she remembered his name correctly. He was a human who was shorter than average with brown hair and brown eyes. And, despite his lack of height, he stood tall and proudly in his Starfleet uniform.

"Mister Duncanson, how can I help you?"

"I understand that the away team has been captured. I would like to volunteer to be on the rescue team."

Captain Janeway studied the man for a few seconds before determining that he would stand by this decision. "You are aware that the rescue team has already been formed, or otherwise you wouldn't be here. So, why do you want to be on the rescue team?"

"Well, I have battle experience against the Borg and a little against the Dominion. I would be a good asset in this endeavor. Also, Lieutenant Romero is my brother-in-law, I feel it is my obligation to see to it that he makes it back safely to my sister."

"I'm afraid that I can't let you go for that very reason. I can't allow personal feelings to affect the operations of the rescue team, it's too dangerous."

"Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

"Granted, mister Duncanson."

"Ever since we've become trapped in the Delta Quandrant we have become a family, we can't allow this _not_ to become personal. We are all closely involved, irregardless of how professional we try to be. And lest you forget, captain, our business is dangerous."

The captain privately agreed, no one who ever journeyed into space could be allowed to fool themselves into thinking that they were safe, no matter how advanced the technology became. And he had a point, seeing how this was already personal for her because Tuvok was one of the people to be captured by the space pirates.

Plus she was already familiar with his service record, which was impressive by itself, his name was a respected one if not particularly well known within the Federation and was commonly associated with a hard working if somewhat insubordinate Lieutenant-commander Lapine, a communications engineering officer who was said to have a certain genius for finding trouble.

And having seen his resolve, she knew she would be unable to turn down his request despite her better judgment. "Okay, you may go. But you report to the team leader and the bounty hunter, what they say goes."

"Yes ma'am, I understand completely."

"Very good, I knew you would. You are dismissed, mister Duncanson."

The young man gave his thanks and then left the briefing room. The captain got up from her chair and went over to the replicator, glad that power was restored throughout the ship. Next up were the propulsion systems, which were knocked out along with everything else when the asteroid blew up. Apparently the explosion carried with it a powerful subspace effect too powerful for the ship to really handle, to be completely honest with herself she was surprised that they had survived at all…

On the view screen there was something akin to a space graveyard, where dozens of ships of various shapes and sizes were thrown together. Or at least that is what it looked like to the naked eye, sensors indicated that the hulls had been fused together and that the reactors for each individual ship shared power to the whole. "This is the space colony known as Sanctuary in the local language. Most of these ships you see came here housing refugees from various places; they have come together for their mutual survival and they are an allied community of races."

"Like an early form of the Federation."

"Almost exactly. We should announce ourselves before we arrive, it would be the polite thing to do." Neelix switched on the COMM, "Sanctuary, this a shuttlecraft from the Starfleet vessel _Voyager_. May we have permission to dock please?"

"_State the purpose of your visit, shuttlecraft."_

"We wish an audience with Samus Aran."

"_You are just in luck, she docked several days ago and can still be found here. Go to the freighter _Sanction Spirit_ and dock in bay four, I believe someone there will be able to tell you where she is." _

The freighter in question was large and made up approximately a third of the mass, but still it was not much to look at for it was an early era ship. Towards the front of the ship was a bubble probably used long ago as the bridge back when it was still used as a spaceship. The loading bays had been converted into a primitive port through a number of umbilical devices, which was not a problem, for even modern day federation vessels came equipped to handle umbilical docking which included shuttlecraft.

Tom Paris switched the controls to manual and brought the shuttle to a stop over the old freighter and waited patiently as the umbilical extended out and connected to the airlock, there where was a thud as contact was made. So he turned off the engines and powered down the shuttlecraft. The airlock was already open, where Neelix was waiting for Tom.

They left together and walked down the length of the umbilical, which lead into a multi-layered loading bay that appeared to be under repair. A technician working on an exposed control panel noticed them and came on over. The man was not from a race that Tom readily recognized, but he seemed friendly enough which was always a good sign.

The technician shook hands with the two men and welcomed them onboard _Sanction Spirit_. They asked him the whereabouts of Samus Aran, which he gladly provided. "On deck twelve, where we normally keep lodgers. You should probably be warned that she seems to have something on her mind, though."

"What do you mean?"

"About a week ago she came back from one of her missions with no damage to her gunship or to her encounter suit and as far as I know she is undamaged. But since returning she hasn't quite been herself. She seems distracted, irresponsive and she seems to have lost her appetite, which is unusual in it self."

But the man (if he was, indeed, a man) did not know what else to say, so the other left for the 'lodge deck'. She was not in her quarters though and a passerby gave them directions to the _Spring Arboretum_, an old colony ship that had been converted into a park. Samus was known for frequenting there whenever she had lot on her mind. As a matter of fact she had spent nearly all of the past week there, which was unheard off because she was such a strong and easy-going woman.

After a few minutes they made it to the ship. Paris and Neelix stopped a moment and gawked at what they saw at the other side of the doors. It appeared as though someone had went through the trouble of gutting out the walls inside the ship and then brought a massive amounts of earth in there. There was a cobble stone path that snaked through the ship and on either side there were trees, bushes and other vegetation that seemed to have came from different planets. Poles stuck up from the ground and arched overhead, they had lights on them that radiated sunlight, and Tom had the sneaking suspicion that the poles was also how the vegetation got watered.

The oddest thing was that nesting in the thick grass were little huts that seemed to be inhabited by a primitive people. They had scaly tanned skin and round faces, and they reminded him of ancient Indian tribes as they danced and sang to the 'sky', which was just a drab looking bulkhead. The leader of the tribe was a man garbed in a black hood and wore a white mask over his round face. As he spoke to his tribesmen he held aloft an ornate staff tipped with what Tom could have sworn was a crucifix.

Sitting a little way apart from the gathering was a woman with snow-white skin and short-cropped blonde hair. Paris could not be absolutely certain without a medical tricorder, but the woman appeared to be human.

"Miss Aran, do you remember me?" Neelix asked, trying to get her attention. It took a moment for her to reply, but then she fixed him with a piercing blue-eyed stare. She studied him for a moment, before replying, "Yes, I remember you. You're that Talaxian, Neelix. It has been a few years, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has. I'm here on behalf of the starship _Voyager_ to make a business proposition, you see space pirates have abducted a few of the crew and they would like your help in tracking down and recovering them."

Samus hefted herself up, eliciting a surprised gasp from Tom Paris. It was not surprising, seeing how rare it was to see a human woman almost a full foot taller than a Klingon warrior. But unlike Klingons, which were big and bulky, Samus had a slender build, like a bird. Clothes that covered very little accentuated her athletic frame, but she did not flaunt it nor did she even seem conscious of it. She regarded what Neelix said and then replied, "They are planning something, or they wouldn't even bother taking prisoners. So they will live for now."

"That's good to hear, so will you help?"

"It's not a problem," Samus replied to Tom's question. Then she gestured to the cake that Neelix was holding and said, "But first why don't the two of you pull up a seat so we can share a picnic?"

It was so unexpected that they did not quite process what she said for a few minutes, they did not go to the Sanctuary for a picnic. Besides, even if they had _Spring Arboretum _was hardly the ideal place to hold one. "That sounds like a lovely idea," Neelix said, deciding to sit on a patch of grass as he opened the container, "It took us a few hours to get here from _Voyager_. As nice as the shuttles are they do tend to make you feel a little claustrophobic. "

Tom had to agree with him there, so he sat on the ground as well, and Samus joined them.

Neelix had already cut the cake and so only had to serve them on the paper plates he hidden inside the container. While Neelix was passing out the cake, the tribal ritual distracted Tom. Samus followed his stare and then said, "Those are the Chroux."

"Chroux?" Tom said, making sure he was pronouncing it correctly. "But how did they achieve space travel though?"

"They didn't." Came her simple reply as she bit into her piece of the cake. Samus noticed Tom's confused expression and so swallowed before clarifying, "You see they were forcefully relocated by their competitors, the Comans. It was due largely to religious differences, you see.

"Comans practice some pagan worship of the ruling members of their society, who suppress all other beliefs. Chroux practice a shamanistic religion revering Jenova, also known as the green goddess who forgives evil through her only son, Jova Chroux. And the Comans gathered the Chroux after a long and intensive war and sent the few survivors into space so that they may claim their land."

"That's quite a story, though they seem to be recovering well enough. But what I still don't understand is how they wound up here; I don't imagine that the Coman would give them a particularly space-worthy vessel. And no offense to Chroux, but they don't seem like the sort that would know how to operate one."

"Well, you're right on both accounts. But you see, I stumbled across them and brought their spacecraft here to the Sanctuary and here they been living ever since in the _Spring Arboretum_."

"And you? What is your story?"

"Me, I'm the last survivor of the _Seattle_."

…..

Tom Paris had heard of the _Seattle_, the story was legend amongst Starfleet, most especially on Earth. The _Seattle_ was a _Pioneer_-class spaceship that had been built in the later half of the Twenty-second century before there even _was_ a Starfleet; it served for over eighty years and was one of the only _Pioneer­_-class ships to survive the Romulan-Human war. It was later refit and sent out for another tour of duty… but it disappeared in transit to resupply a colony.

The newly commissioned _Constitution_-class starship _Enterprise_ (then under the command of Commodore Robert April) was dispatched to locate the _Seattle_, but no trace was ever found except for its buoy. According to the final log, the _Seattle _was overtaken by an ion storm and then they were bombarded by an unidentified source of tetryon particles… and then nothing. It was a mystery, one that every commander of the _Enterprise_ since tried unsuccessfully to solve.

Though it was virtually inconceivable that it would survive almost two hundred years it was still possible. Supposing that it was the Protector who was responsible for _Seattle_ being in the Beta-quandrant it would take a ship of that era that long just to get to this point… But if Samus Aran was the last survivor…

"What happened to _Seattle_?"

Samus did not reply for a moment, and Tom thought she might cry. But she was strong and held her head up high. Before she could reply though the ship, and probably the rest of Sanctuary, shook under force of an explosion. Alarms blared overhead as alien voices began giving instructions to the crew, and Tom leapt to his feet.

"What the hell is going on?"

Samus listened to the alien voices, which the translator did not quite catch. The COM badges doubled as a translation device that functioned fairly well, but as useful as it was it was still a long way from perfect. "We're being attacked by space pirates…"

End Chapter

Author notes: Well, Samus has made her first appearance. Hopefully I characterized her correctly. There was a guy who complained how Samus is typically characterized as being angsty or maternal… and it _does_ get old after a while.

The Chroux and the Comans: As you probably guessed these two races do not really exist in any real sense. I created them, figuring my fellow Star Trek fans would get a kick out of it (I am a Star Trek fan first, a Metroid fan second).


End file.
